Grove City, Ohio

If you are a kid in the Grove City area, you know all about the Big Splash, the municipal waterpark that features a large zero-depth entrance, interactive water toys, large body slides, a tot slide, a six-lane lap pool and award-winning aquatic climbing walls.

The place has become so popular and overcrowded, the city was forced to establish a controversial ‘resident-only’ policy, which is evidence of the growth of the Columbus suburb.

The federal highway system of the 1950s — specifically I-71 and I-270 — simply transformed Grove City from a town of 2,000 to a city that will soon top 40,000.

A look at the history of Grove City on the city’s official website shows some deep local misfortune. The town’s first settler, Hugh Grant, was “killed shortly after his arrival in a freak accident.” Yikes. A deeper look shows that he died as a result of falling from a tree while trying to dislodge a beehive.

And then Grove City’s founder, William F. Breck, who had purchased 15 acres from Grant’s son, met a strangely similar fate — falling to his death from atop his horse after reacting with glee to President Lincoln’s renomination.